The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-08-02

MINISTER COX DESCRIBES SOME M
TERESTlNG EXPERIENCES.

The Inhabitants of the Valley of the
Great River Railroad Trip The
Ancient One-HandIed Plougb--A Plague
of FIIes-The Buffalo.
The railroad trip to Asyoot is not to be
forgotten. We had been in Egypt before,
but never beyond Cairo, or the pyramids
of GhiZa, so that the scenes on the railroad
travel were novel, diverting and interest
ing Having an apartment or carriage to
ourselves, we placed our pOrtmanteaus on
the seat and mounted thereon as a want
age situation, and for eight hours, from
a. m till evening, we gazed out Of the
windows at the strangeness of the panO-
rama, with it's constantly changing colors
and forms. Remember, it is winter
mid February The grain harvest IS
nearly ripe. The cotton is picked only a
few bolIs remain in the fields The sugar
cane is being cut and carried on donkey,
camsls and cars to the sugar factories.
The long stalks are seen everywhere. The
little big belLied Arab boys, in utter max
edness are grinding the succulent, sac
charine stalks between their glistening
upper and neither teeth. Every one on the
route has long sugar cane, carrying one
end in the mouth. The flies are settling
thick around the juicy oriffces. The air is
pregnant with the expression of the cane.
The sugar factories are at work. The
fumes not only add their fragrance, but
the long iron chimneys give their pecu-
liar business look to the landscape.
THE PEOPLE OF THE NILE.
There were other peculiarities for which
the car was point of observation. Not
the costumes of the people, for they
seemed uniformly of a dark or blue bOur-
nous. The sexes are hardly distinguish
able from each other, except by the
mustache, beard or turban There is
much nakedDess, or nearly so. After an
eager glance towards the pyramids of
Sakarrah near old Memphis, the multi
tudinous mud huts and villages appear.
Palms in abundance everywhere plume
themselves in their stately beauty. The
soil is being ploughed in places for the
new crop. The people are said to be in
dustrious, but everywhere we see them
sitting under walls, in the shade, and
covered with flies-eyes, ears, face, hands,
feet covered with flies. The animal life
seems to move as slowly as if it had ages
to do lifetime of work. The buffalo is
very unlike our almost obsolete big
headed species. 1t is seen in the fields
ploughing with the old one-handled
plough of the time of Sets, or turning the
wGter-wheel. AT q distance, and especi-
ally when cooling in the water, it looks
like q pachyderm. In fact, its brown
black tough hide, ungainly form and hide
GUS face to which the horn gives sinister
expression make him an object of curious
interest. Here and there we observe
shepherds, generally children with shep-
herd dogs. Some are BedOuins, with tents
of camel-hair, black and dirty. They have
hocks of sheep and goats, and often mixed
hocks. There are generally donkey and
a yellow dog and plenty of naked children.
Yellow and white flowers are already be-
decking the meadows.
At various times on the railroad we OBJ
tanned glimpses of the white and yellow
stands; and the peculiar masts of the da-
hAbiehs at an odd angle with their still
more quaint sails. Ridges and plains of
sands soon give way to villages, which
are the sign and sight of palm groves.
On both sides of the valley of the Nile
lone, arid and tawny mountains appear.
They are pictures not unlike the desert OF
Moab-out of whose wilderness the Bap-
list came. They are the shaggy barriers
of the fruitful valley. For such fences as
are needed to separate the fields, the
cane, interviewer, makes a tolerable pre-
text Of protection. 1t would not turn
"resolute" rabbit. Everywhere are seen
stakes, Indicating metes and bounds and
proprietorship, which have to be renewed
when the Nile food disappears Old well
sweeps are seen, such as were common In
Ohio in my boyhood They lift the water
out of the soft soil to the surface. The
bottom of the well is, of course, on level
with the river, and, as l said, the river is
everything to Egypt 1t is now quite low;
still, the fields have ponds in them; but
the pond water does not seem stagnant-
Indeed the people use the water for
every purpOse-cOoking washing. bath
ing, etc.
A PLAGUE OF FLIES.
After the buffalo, for number and util-
ity, come the donkey and camel / had
no idea that the donkey was such daisy
in Egypt Bridleless and saddleless, he
will amble gaily with family on his YER
tebrR. He is as patient and as meek as If
his burden were nothing. Sometimes you
do not see his legs and only parts Of his
ears when he is loaded down with sugar
cane or grasses. 1 send you with this
picture of him-loaded-with only his ears
protruding The camel looks as usual,
"sinful," and moves in a mysterious way,
as if he grudged every time ne lifted his
foot.
If l should be called on to name the
most vital element of Egypt it would not
be the buffalo, donkey, camel, ostrich or
man. 1t would be the flies. 1t was win
ter, but they were as plentiful as in the
time of summer or of the plaques. In the
eighth chapter OF EXod us 1T IS said that
the Lord did according to the word of
Moses, and he removed the swarms of flies
from Pharaoh, from his servants, and
from his people; there remained not one"
What a relief "Not one" That was
near 900 years ago They have accumu-
lated since enormously The infantile
death rate is due mostly to flies. On the
vessel or in the mud-hut, in temple or
town-fiies ! From Thinite. first dynasty,
27OO B. c., to the time of the present cour-
teous and unselfish khedive-hies The
ban, Bubastile, Salte, Ethiopian, Mace
DOMAIN, Greek, Loman and Mahometan
dynasties - flies From the tinniest
buzzer to the biggest blue-bottle
flies! Touching with dainty foot
and prehensile grip the beauteOus eye
lash of Cleopatra; biting with chivalric
intrepidity through the harness of God
frey de Bouillon, and pursuing with
"nipping air" Persian, Kermani, Syrian,
and Room as they fit through history
flies IS. S. CoX's letter in New York
World